Stereo display systems

1. A stereo display system comprising: a display; a viewing area divided into a plurality of sub-regions; and multiple pairs of stereo projectors; wherein each pair of stereo projectors of the multiple pairs of stereo projectors is assigned to provide projection for only a corresponding sub-region of the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area by projecting a corresponding image pair onto the display that is substantially rectified for viewers located only in the corresponding sub-region, so that only those viewers perceive three-dimensional images projected by that pair of stereo projectors on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection to a corresponding sub-region further comprises: a left-eye projector configured to project an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the left eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region; and a right-eye projector configured to project an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the right eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprises one or more filter systems, wherein each filter system is associated with a sub-region from the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area and an assigned pair of stereo projectors, each filter system configured so that viewers in the associated sub-region see the image pairs projected onto the display by the assigned stereo projectors and not the image pairs projected onto the display by a different pair of stereo projectors.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises: eye glasses configured with a left-eye filter and a right-eye filter worn by viewers in the associated sub-region; and a left-eye filter and a right-eye filter placed on left-eye and right-eye projectors of the stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for the associated sub-region, wherein for each viewer in the associated sub-region, the left-eye filters are configured to ensure a left-eye image projected by the left-eye projector onto the display is seen exclusively by the left eye of the viewers, and the right-eye filters are configured to ensure a right-eye image projected onto the display by the right-eye projector is seen exclusively by the right eye of the viewers.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises: a first type of color filter configured to selectively pass a first set of selected segments of blue, green, and red wavelength ranges of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and a second type of color filter configured to selectively pass a second set of selected segments of blue, green, and red wavelength ranges of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises: a first type of polarization filter configured to selectively pass light in a first polarization state; and a second type of polarization filter configured to selectively pass light in a second polarization state.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises shutter glasses worn by the viewers in an associated sub-region such that for each sub-region of the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area, alternating left-eye and right-eye lens transparency and darkness of the shutter glasses worn by the viewers in the viewing area are synchronized with the refresh rate of the assigned pair of stereo projectors.

8. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises a combination of shutter glasses and color and/or polarization filters that provide a combinatorial selection for each of the sub-regions.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for a central sub-region of the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area are configured and oriented so that a group of viewers located in the central sub-region receive a left-eye image and a right-eye image with parallel epipolar lines that are also substantially parallel to scan lines of images projected onto the display.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for a first sub-region of the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area located on a first side of the display are configured and oriented to show image pairs projected onto the display in a manner that makes them appear substantially properly structured for epipolar-aligned viewing in the first sub-region, and the pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for a second sub-region of the plurality of sub-regions of the viewing area located on a second side opposite the first side are configured and oriented to show image pairs projected onto the display in a manner that makes them appear substantially properly structured for epipolar-aligned viewing in the second sub-region.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the display further comprises a white or silvered surface and the multiple pairs of stereo projectors are centrally located so that the image pairs are projected onto the display from behind or above the viewing area.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the display further comprises a rear projection display screen and the multiple pairs of stereo projectors are located in front of the viewing area and behind the display so that image pairs are projected onto the display facing viewers located in the viewing area.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the image pairs projected by each pair of stereo projectors are created by n+1 cameras for n stereo view zones, wherein paired cameras provide different view pairs that are rectified and resampled independently of other camera pairs.

14. A method for viewing three-dimensional images comprising: dividing a viewing area of a display into a plurality of sub-regions; projecting multiple image pairs onto the display, each image pair of the multiple image pairs generated by a pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for a corresponding sub-region of the viewing area; selectively viewing each image pair in the corresponding sub-region of the viewing area, wherein one or more viewers located only in the corresponding sub-region exclusively view only the image pair generated by the pair of stereo projectors assigned to provide projection for the corresponding sub-region of the viewing area; and rectifying each of the multiple image pairs, wherein the one or more viewers perceive the three-dimensional images presented on the display from the corresponding sub-region of the viewing area.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein projecting the multiple image pairs further comprises: projecting an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the left eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region using a left-eye projector; and projecting an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the right eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region using a right-eye projector.